Experimental reconsideration of the utility of serum starvation as a method for synchronizing mammalian cells.
Accurate cell-size determinations support the prediction that serum starvation and related whole-culture methods cannot synchronize cells. Theoretical considerations predict that whole-culture methods of synchronization cannot synchronize cells. Upon serum starvation, the fraction of cells with a G1-phase amount of DNA increased, but the cell-size distribution is not narrowed. In true synchronization, the cell-size distribution should be narrower than the cell-size distribution of the original culture. In contrast, cells produced by a selective (i.e. non-whole-culture) method have a specific DNA content, a narrow size distribution, and divide synchronously. The general theory leading to the conclusion that whole-culture methods for synchronization do not work implies that one can generalize these serum-starvation results to other cell lines and other whole-culture methods, to conclude that these methods do not synchronize cells.
Cooper
Stephen
S
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0620, USA. cooper@umich.edu
Gonzalez-Hernandez
Mariam
M
D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002453:Cell Cycle; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D048429:Cell Size; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D016193:G1 Phase; D007939:Leukemia L1210 / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D044967:Serum / Q000378:metabolism
D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D004247:DNA